In the United States as well as in Latin America, it is impolite to eat in front of someone else who is not eating also. But, what do you do if you if you stop by someone’s home while they’re eating? If this happens to me, I usually say something like, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your dinner”, or “Sorry to bother you during dinner time.”
This type of meal-time interruption doesn’t seem to happen as much in the United States as it does in Latin America. This seems to be because just about everyone in the United States has access to a telephone and people usually call each other before stopping by. In many Latin American areas, especially in the lower-income pueblos, a very small percentage of the population owns a telephone because of the cost involved. (more…)
